people

Julie Walsh

Julie Walsh joined the Center in 2008 as a
specialist to focus on the development of an undergraduate program in
Pacific Islands Studies. Dr Walsh holds degrees in cultural anthropology
from Louisiana State University (MA 1995) and the University of Hawai'i
at Mānoa (PhD 2003).

Dr Walsh is committed to increasing cross-cultural awareness
by applying anthropological knowledge in the public realm, particularly
in ways that benefit those whose lives enable anthropological careers.
To that end, in 2000, with Marshallese colleagues, she cofounded a nonprofit
organization (Small Island Networks) to offer skills-training opportunities
for Marshallese immigrants and cultural orientations for Hawai'i service
providers. She has developed resources for Hawai'i teachers and a curriculum
based on Marshallese folktales.

Her work in the community is supplemented by scholarship
that engages Marshallese perspectives and histories. Dr Walsh coauthored
a history of the Marshall Islands for use by the RMI Ministry of Education,
and has served in various institutions in the Marshalls: the College
of the Marshall Islands, Alele Museum, the Historic Preservation Office,
and the Ministry of Education (where she facilitated the development
of the ministry's five-year strategic plan, 2006–2011). She also served as Reviews Editor for The Contemporary
Pacific from 2008 to 2012.

Encyclopedia article: "Marshall Islands." In The New Book of Knowledge: Reference for the 21st Century, 112-113. New York: Grolier.

2004

Book review: The Marshall Islands: Living Atolls Amidst the Living Sea, by the National Biodiversity Team of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (Santa Clarita, CA: St. Hildegard Publishing Company, 2000). The Contemporary Pacific 16:449-452. [download PDf]

2003 Imagining the Marshalls: Chiefs, Traditions, and the State on the Fringes of the U.S. Empire.

Her doctoral research explored local views of the United
States and expectations of the US role in the bilateral US-RMI Compact
of Free Association, while engaging participants in grassroots and national
debates that challenged the roles of traditional leaders and elites.
A divisive national gambling legislation debate in the 1st session of
the Nitijela (Parliament) in 1998 created a context for discussions about
the expectations and limits of authority and leadership. Discussions
pointed to the powers of traditional authorities and modern elites as
agents in the processes of globalization as well as in indigenous practices
of resistance. The dissertation analyzes historical and contemporary
examples of Marshallese leaders who have used rhetoric about or relationships
with foreign third parties, such as the United States, as enemies or
allies to shore up sides in local contests.